Henry Slesar 23 min read

Everybody was waiting to see what the delegate from Venus looked like, and all they got for their patience was the biggest surprise since David clobbered Goliath.

Henry Slesar's 1958 story is a wry first-contact and social-SF comedy with a sharp twist. Clever, funny golden-age SF. Read it for a genial Washington satire where a rebellious reporter chases the story of Earth's first Venusian visitor, and the truth of the delegate proves gloriously unexpected.

In its time

Published in 1958, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

23 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Irving H. Novick